Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 9: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Jammu and Kashmir UT spokesman, Altaf Thakur asked the UT administration to build pressure on the Waqf Board to issue a White Paper on the income and expenditure of the past 30 years. Thakur said that it was an irony that despite the fact that people of Kashmir pay crores of rupees as charity every year and yet the Board is not able to pay monthly salaries to its employees.
In a statement issued here, today Thakur said that only one shrine that of Awantipore is the source of Rs 5 crore a year for the Waqf Board.
Thakur said that every year Waqf Board gets charity both in the form cash and kind. However, most of the shrines lack safety measures and lack basic facilities.
Thakur said that Kashmir has hundreds of Sufi Shrines which come under Waqf Board but the irony is that majority of shrines are not properly maintained by the Board despite getting huge charity amount on monthly as well as yearly basis.
In the past 30 years, Thakur said that Waqf Board should have constructed at least two Universities and a series of colleges and other educational institutions given its income status. However, Board is not able to pay monthly salaries to its own employees, how come it would set up educational institutions.
“I urge the Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu to set up a probe panel to find out assets, income and expenditure of Waqf Board. The Board should also come out with a White Paper on its income and expenditure of past 30 years,” said Thakur.
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